Filter Content
- President Update
- High Conflict Workshop
- Advocacy
- Consultation
- Leadership
- National and International Affiliations
- SWIPS programs and contact details
- Merit Selection Training
- NTPA notice of AGM
- NAPLAN survey
- Go1 Education Change Makers
- Time to renew for 2024
- Links to other Information, Professional Learning Opportunities, Publications, and Professional Reading
- Facebook page
Dear Colleagues
On this World Teachers’ Day, we want to express our appreciation and gratitude for your commitment to leading schools across the NT. Your leadership plays a vital role in improving the outcomes for students by inspiring, motivating and supporting your teachers and staff to be the best they can. Today we celebrate your commitment and passion to education and the teaching profession, your tireless energy and diligence to make a difference.
Remember to send us a picture of you and your staff celebrating.
Congratulations to our school leaders and staff who have been shortlisted for Teach in the Territory Awards. It is great to see many of our members in this category and recognised for their outstanding leadership and positive contributions. Enjoy your evening and celebrations.
NTPA is committed to representing all members as key stakeholders in NT Education. We currently have 171 members who lead in urban, regional, remote and very remote schools. NTPA is recognised as the collective voice for school leaders throughout the NT at both a Territory and National level. It is an advisory body to the Department, the Chief Executive and Minister of Education, and influences through strong partnerships, consultation and advocacy.
At a national level, NTPA have been advocating and providing feedback to national agenda items including:
- National School Reform Agreement to achieve 100% SRS funding for all public schools
- Response to 'Better and Fairer Education System' Consultation and feedback to the federal Minister appointed Expert Panel.
- The National Teacher Workforce Action Plan
- Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Schools
- Mobile Phone Policies
- School Leader Wellbeing
Would you like to contribute to contribute to Monash University’s research project “Invisible Labour: Principal’s Emotional Labour in Volatile Times”?
All public-school principals across Australia can contribute to this three-year research project by following this link:
Click on the link to the video to learn more about this survey.
Stay well
Robyn
Robyn Thorpe
President Email: ntpa.admin@education.nt.gov.au or ntpa.president@education.nt.gov.au
NTPA are offering a workshop to upskill yourself or your staff with strategies to respond to high conflict personality behaviours. Often, we step into a school leader role without the skills to manage people (staff or parents) who display high conflict behaviours. Often these are the people who just don’t seem rationale! This is often cognitively and emotionally demanding, and adds to the stress and burden of the job. Megan Hunter, from the High Conflict Institute, provides an insight into what causes these behaviours, identification of a high conflict situation, and when and what is the best way to respond. Megan spoke about a new description ‘The Jackhammer Parent’, as a successor to the Helicopter and Lawnmower Parent. They are often relentless, loud, destructive and powered by fear.
‘This was the best workshop I have ever participated in. It provided me with deep understandings and powerful strategies to navigate challenging conversations that are often part of a school leaders role.’ Belinda Pearson, Braitling Primary School
‘Highly targeted for the current needs of principals in the Territory to lean in on evidence-based practices when dealing with regular high conflict situations.’ Liza Parr, Nakara Primary School
Wednesday 15th November at Michael Long Centre 8.30am to 4.00 pm
Please register via this link: https://forms.office.com/r/ndiEF7AWam
Over the last month, NTPA have met with a number of department senior leaders and the Minister of Education to raise the following. These issues are of particular concern for members as we prepare for the 2024 year ahead:
- Ongoing principals and Cyclone Shelter Management – ongoing principals are not required to manage cyclone shelters during school holidays, but may assist the department to identify someone to play this role.
- Teacher Shortages – being competitive against other jurisdictions who have a range of attraction, recruitment and retention strategies to address teacher shortages
- Centralised Government agencies and the impact of additional workload and burden for those working in schools from the centralised models, this includes managing HR issues through DCDD and Government Housing practices and policies. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback via the surveys.
- Supporting Central Australia principals who are managing additional planning, consultation, and initiatives to expend the additional funding from the Federal Government. NTPA have recommended a range of attraction and recruitment strategies to both the Minster and Department to help support the employment of additional staff.
- Executive Contract Principal Renumeration – a way forward beyond frozen salaries and increasing the gap between the principal and assistant principal salary.
- AEU- supporting the ‘For Every Child Campaign’- a national campaign to achieve 100% SRS funding for public schools.
- Excursions and public liability certificates
NTPA have been consulted and provided feedback on a range of reviews, policies and practices:
- Teacher Workload Review Taskforce and Consultation Workshop
- Compliant resolution for schools and corporate framework- guidelines and procedures
- Secondary and Preschool Review
- Quality Standards Framework for Flexible Education Programs
- Education Leadership Strategy Projects - Leadership Strategy
- Teacher recruitment and attraction
- School Based Police Program Consultative Group
- School Representative Body Online Learning Series
The Minister for Education launched the https://nt.gov.au/learning/parent-and-community-involvement/school-representative-bodies on 23 of October 2023 at the Business Managers’ Conference. This was developed in response to the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) recommendation 8 in the 2021 Public Statement. The Learning Series are a critical Department of Education product that will assist principals across the Territory to build capability in school governance and attract new members to school councils.
It is important that your issues and concerns are heard and that NTPA can provide a collective voice for feedback and consultation. Please reach out at anytime to your Chapter Chair or myself.
NTPA facilitated 4 workshops with Michael Grinder and had 56 participants covering topics . We were able to offer these workshops online and allowed busy participants recorded sessions when they were unable to attend the workshop.
NTPA have supported the Spiral of Inquiry Masterclasses held this year by the Department. This joint work enables us to work in partnership to deliver high quality professional learning for our leaders.
The Top End Chapter facilitated an online session for all members with Amy Hetherington on the topic of Communicating with Influence – ie how to use social media effectively to raise your profile.
ASPA October 23 Communique
Catch up with all the AGGPA news HERE
Save the date for the next APPA/NZPF Trans- Tasman Conference:
Please find following an updated list of SWIPS programs and contacts:
Thank you to all members who have volunteered to be a part of Principal Panels.
This week I noticed that the online training has been updated and is worthwhile revisiting.
To access the online training, you need to go to the NT Government My Learning website and register if it’s your first time.
This will take you to your dashboard where you can enrol for the course. Select agency and then search for the course, enrol and complete.
Please join the NTPA Exec team on line for our annual AGM
Thursday 16th November 4pm
A teams link has been sent to you calendar.
Please contat ntpa.admin@education.nt.gov.au if you haven't received it.
As you know, NAPLAN moved from May to March this year, and changes were made to reporting in order to provide simpler, clearer, and more meaningful results.
ACARA are keen to hear from principals and teachers, as well as parents and carers, on these changes.
Feedback will be captured via a survey from 9 October to early December 2023.
A link to the survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NRTZCHN
Have you joined Go1EC? All NTPA members have free access to this professional learning website until December 2023. This month’s focus is mental health awareness and the playlist includes numerous resources to support you and your staff. If you have not yet received your email log on please email ntpa.admin@education.nt.gov.au
Check out October session recommendation:
Supporting Neurodivergent Students in your School Community
Remember memebrships are for a calendar year so now is is the time to renew or join for 2024. Click on this link to complete the form.
The National Student Wellbeing Program grant
The National Student Wellbeing Program (NSWP) grant is now available for NT schools to engage a student wellbeing officer or chaplain to deliver wellbeing programs for students.
The Australian Government will provide funding of $510,000 per school year for 2024-2027. Each year, participating schools receive:
- $20,280.00 in metropolitan areas
- $24,336.00 in remote or very remote areas
Grant round is now open and closes on 30 October.
Applications must be received through Grants NT.
Search for 2024-2027 National Student Wellbeing Program
More information can be found in the NSWP Handbook
School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI)
Through the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI), 30,000 eligible families with school aged children can access free home internet for 12 months.
To be eligible, families must not currently have a National Broadband Network (NBN) connection at home.
To help eligible families nominate themselves for the SSBI, a National Referral Centre is now available. Families can contact the centre by calling 1800 954 610 (Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm AEDT) or by using their online contact form on the Anglicare Victoria website
Principals can assist with the distribution of this information to families by using:
- SSBI National Referral Centre promotional poster
- What is SSBI and the National Referral Centre flyer
For more information, email digitalanddata.doe@education.nt.gov.au or call 08 8972 5344.
As a school leader you have multiple responsibilities to juggle – and keeping all those balls in the air while maintaining your sanity is no mean feat.
We understand, School leaders can be selfless, but prioritising others' Professional Learning and neglecting your own doesn't serve you or your school.
Invest some time in YOU!
Visit our BTS Spark website or send an email to gail.smith@btsspark.org, the NT School Leadership Partner to find out how we can meet your needs.
This Practice Guide aims to help schools to embed a culture of trauma-informed practice using a whole-of-school approach. This approach is about ensuring that the culture, policies, and practices within a school recognise and respond to the effects of trauma. It includes all of the school community, from students, staff, families, and the broader community. A whole-of-school approach to trauma-informed practice is also about considering the way in which schools can build a deeper connection with ALL families to support better outcomes for children and young people.
This guide provides practical strategies that support family engagement and considers what this means for vulnerable families where the impact of trauma may be present. For the purpose of this guide we are referring to families as inclusive of parents, stepparents, extended family members, foster and kinship carers. Where the term children has been used, we are referring to both children and young people.
Since, our original Northern Territory Principals’ Association Facebook site was hacked by a video creator group we have been rebuilding.
We recommend you block this site: Old facebook site
Then follow this one: New NTPA facebook page
Thank you!